PA Congressman seeks to control cost of federal disaster responses

(Washington, D.C.) — A Congressman from Pennsylvania is spearheading an effort to ensure that spending for federal disaster responses is both necessary and cost-effective.

Republican Congressman Lou Barletta is the author of a bill to reform disaster assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

He says disaster losses have grown considerably over the last 30 years, with FEMA spending 178 billion dollars for over 1,300 presidential disaster declarations.

However, Barletta says the sheer number of disasters is not alone responsible for the cost.

“75 percent of all declared disasters account for only 7 percent of costs.  In other words, we could eliminate three quarters of all federally declared disasters and barely cut 7 percent of federal disaster spending,” he said.

Barletta’s bill passed the House of Representatives in February. He’s hoping to continue the discussion into ways to make sure federal disaster assistance is delivered quickly and efficiently.